96 [Assembly 



The Canker-worm — Anisoptertx vernata Peck. 



It really seems that the canker-worm is becoming an annual pest 

 of the orchards of the State of New York. While the New England 

 orchards have been for many years ravaged by it, and the noble elms, 

 so long the boast of eastern villages, destroyed, and it has also been 

 very destructive in several of the Western States, our own State, for 

 some reason, has been almost exempt from its depredations. Within 

 the last few years, occasional instances of its occurrence have been 

 reported. Last jear they were received by me from Poundridge and 

 Pleasantville in Westchester county, where they inflicted damage to 

 the apple crop to the amount of thousands of dollars {Go'untry Gen- 

 tleman of July 10, 1884-, p. 577). The present year, report is re- 

 ceived of serious injuries from them in Wayne county. A gentleman 

 writes : 



" The orchards are all being destroyed in this part of the State 

 by the canker-worm. Thrifty orchards were cut down last winter, 

 and there will be a good many more sacrificed if there cannot be 

 found some way to stop the havoc." 



Early in June their presence in the vicinity of Albany was re- 

 ported, where I had not previously heard of their occurrence. Ex- 

 amples of the caterpillar were brought to me by Mr. David M. 

 Knickerbocker, of Albany, that I might £ee if they were, as he be- 

 lieved, the veritable canker-worm. They were found upon his apple- 

 trees at Loudonville, in " millions," and were rapidly consuming the 

 foliage. He had also heard of their presence in other orchards in 

 his neighborhood. The examples of the larvae brought were nearly 

 full-grown (on June 9th), having almost attained their maximum 

 length of one inch. As usual, they differed greatly in their mark- 

 ings and colors, some being almost without stripes and of a uniform 

 black. 



The folly and the criminality of permitting this destructive pest 

 to obtain a permanent footing within our State cannot be too 

 strongly censured. It is an extremely local pest, and, at the outset, 

 can be easily controlled. Often one tree only in an orchard is 

 infested, or a portion of an orchard, or a single orchard in a town- 

 ship, while others are wholly free from it. The female moth has 

 no wings with which to distribute herself, and can only, upon com- 

 ing out from her pupation in the ground underneath the tree in the 

 earl}' spring, climb up the trunk, meet her winged mate, and deposit 

 her eggs upon the branches. 



Preventives and remedies. — The preventives and remedies that 

 should be used against this insect are simple. First, the females 

 should be prevented from ascending the tree, by the application 

 around the trunk of bands of tar or printers' ink, or by some of 

 the mechanical appliances which have been so frequently given in 

 our agricultural journals and entomological reports. Second, when 

 the larvae are upon the tree and rapidly eating up the young leaves, 

 they should be killed by spraying the tree with Paris green water, 



